The present invention relates to the filed or insect and small animal traps, in particular, adhesive-type traps for catching rodents and insects, particularly cockroaches.
Adhesive traps are well known in the art, dating back decades, if not centuries, to the early uses of sticky substances and flypapers to catch insects and the like. Modern adhesive traps may be embodied in what is commercially sold as the ROACH MOTEL(trademark), a box-like member provided with glue or adhesive inside to catch roaches.
Gehret, U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,825, issued Nov. 12, 1996, and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an example of such a glue-type trap. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of such a trap. Trap 1 comprises a housing 14 made of cardboard or the like. Trap 1 may be provided with a one or more of openings 2 allowing a roach to enter. Inside, an adhesive 3 may be provided on the floor or other surface of the trap to ensnare the roach. A chemical attractant may be used to lure the roach into the trap.
The present inventor has discovered, through extensive research, that such traps suffer from a fundamental flaw. Namely, they require the roach to seek out and enter the trap. If the roach does not find the trap, the roach will not become ensnared. Moreover, attractants may be of limited use in attracting roaches, as they may be more attracted to actual food debris, and especially, water.
Wraight, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,022, issued Jun. 30, 1987, and incorporated herein by reference, discloses a rotatable insect trap device. A holder on a want holds two convention roach traps. A user may place the roach traps in the path of a roach in order to capture the roach. While such a device may be useful when roaches are seen, most roaches avoid daylight, preferring to come out at night. Moreover, having to move the traps by hand and predicting the path of a loose roach may be somewhat difficult. The trap requires active, not passive, use.
Gang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,186, issued Oct. 3, 1995, and incorporated herein by reference, discloses an insect trap kit. In the primary embodiment, this kit may be assembled to build a multiple entrance roach trap. Such a trap may increase the likelihood that a roach may be ensnared by presenting a larger and multiple entrance area. However, once roaches are ensnared, the entire trap must be disposed of (or the user must live with unsanitary dead and dying roaches in the trap. Disposing of such traps may be expensive and time consuming.
Thus, it remains a requirement in the art to provide a roach trap which eliminates or reduces the need for the roach to seek out, locate, and enter the trap.
Moreover, it remains a requirement in the art to provide a trap which is less dependent upon attractants to ensnare roaches.
It also remains a requirement in the art to provide a roach trap which allows only those portions thereof ensnaring roaches to be disposed of.
The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a holder to arrange a plurality of roach traps in parallel to form a barrier to the path of the roaches. Roach migration patterns may be readily observed or predicted. Typical pathways include under doorways, near pipe entries, and near sources of water.
Placed in the path of the roaches, the plurality of roach traps force a roach to traverse through one of the traps, where it is ensnared. The trap holder may be provided with a attachment point so that multiple holders may be arranged in series to form larger barriers.
Individual roach traps, either of the prior art design, or of a specialized design disclosed herein, may be used with the roach trap holder. As individual traps are filled, they may be removed one at a time without having to replace the entire traps and trap holder combination.